[Urgent] Clear coat, decals, and polishing

[verpine]

I just applied several coats of testors model master paint to the body of the car I am making. Now, it says the paint is a two part system and can be clear coated in two hours. I have some decals I want to apply, and plan on polishing and waxing the body. So, what order and time frame do I do everything in?

Clear coat, polish, wax, then decals?

Or decals, clear coat, polish, then wax?

Or clear coat, decals, wait a week, more clear, then polish, then wax?

I am so confused. And do I have to apply the clear in 2 hours?

[Exotics_Builder]

Should have been at the CARS in Miniature meeting last night where I did a seminar on finishing and polishing. BUt you'd have to drive to Crystal Lake Illinois

Based on what you listed and assuming your paint job is NOT flawlessly smooth, I'd recommend:

1. Clear Coat first, especially if your color coat is pearl or metallic. If not you could skip this step.
   
2. Finish sand, starting with a 4000 grit paper (you may need to back down to a 3200 or 3600 if your paint is too "grainy". Run it up to 12000 grit following the directions of each successively finer grit move perpendicular to the prior grit.
   
3. If it looks fairly smooth and glossy at this point proceed to step 5
   
4. Thouroughly clean your model and apply medium to fine polish to finish smoothing out.
   
5. Thoroughly clean your model again and apply the decals.
   
6. Mist on clear coats to be sure the clear does not attack the decal (you could experiment by applying a decal you won't use to a plastic spoon and test the clear)
   
7. Wet coat the final clear coat and let thoroughly dry.
   
8. Clean the model and then finish sand and polish out (remember polish is an abrasive as well)
   
9. Before final polishing coat with a swirl remover or very fine compound, apply any bare metal foil. That way you can polish out the BMF as well.
   
10. Assemble the model and wax if you want or use something like Novus #1 to do a final clean up.
    

HTH

Edited August 12, 2012 by Exotics_Builder

[stulee11]

When i do it i wet sand the body with 2500 then apply the decals, then wait a few hours and give it a few dust ciats of clear with 15min intervals. Once i have a good thick coat on i leave it for a week or 2. Then wet sand with 4000 up to 12000 and use rubbing compound then polish her out. Hope that helps buddy. Stu

[verpine]

Thanks for the quick replies guys. So to clear a couple things up:

If I sand and polish without clear coating, should I expect a glossy finish when done sanding+polishing?

How long do I wait after applying decals to apply clear? On other websites I've read it takes 2-3 days for the decals to dry.

Edit: I have another question, should I attach the clear headlight pieces before the final clear coat or after?

Taillights, same question

Edited August 12, 2012 by verpine

[Exotics_Builder]

Thanks for the quick replies guys. So to clear a couple things up:

If I sand and polish without clear coating, should I expect a glossy finish when done sanding+polishing?

How long do I wait after applying decals to apply clear? On other websites I've read it takes 2-3 days for the decals to dry.

You should be looking for a glossy finsih. Otherwise, you could get silvering (where the decal does not lay down properly, even with setting solution).

Let the decals dry for at least two days. Besides drying, you want to wash the model before clearing and don't want to loosen the decal/ The reason for washing is get any residue off before clearing. If you look at applied decals, you'll usually see some water spotting and you want to get rid of it prior to clearing.

This is a slow and methodical process to get the best results. Don't rush it.

[Exotics_Builder]

Also, be sure whatever polishing compound you use has no silicas in it. Otherwise, you can't paint over it. Often, the polishing compounds will tell you if it is paintable over.

[verpine]

Ok thanks for the advice. Right now the paint has the "orange peel" texture, so should I sand it smooth, then clear coat, and after that sand/polish OR go straight to clearcoat and sand/polish after?

Sorry for all these questions, this is my first car and i want to do it right.

[Exotics_Builder]

Ok thanks for the advice. Right now the paint has the "orange peel" texture, so should I sand it smooth, then clear coat, and after that sand/polish OR go straight to clearcoat and sand/polish after?

Sorry for all these questions, this is my first car and i want to do it right.

If your paint is solid color, you can do that. If metallic or pearl, if the Orange peel is not that bad, clearing it can work. If you sand the color, on a metallic or pearl, you will have to recoat it before clearing.